OzTAKU
Encyclopedia
OzTAKU is an Australian community for manga
style artists & cartoonists. Whilst spread out along the Australian East coast, it's centrally administered from Melbourne, Australia.
The community has an online forum, and is involved in various social networking sites such as FaceBook
the general purpose of which is to provide a feedback mechanism for artists currently engaged in projects involving manga style illustration.
It also has a real world presence that regularly engages in both social activities and creative workshops.
The ultimate aim of OzTAKU is to become another resource and Australian manga community, with publishing and merchandise merely as monetization methods that keep the community afloat.
, Hakori, Souls Forgotten by Madonna Spelta and OzTAKU No Brain by Avi Bernshaw and Kenneth Chan.
The magazine itself fell by the wayside in 2007 due to the financial burdens it placed on OzTAKU as a whole.
In place of the anthology magazine, as of 2008, the group is now focusing on publishing independent Australian manga
, such as The List and Rocksalt, hosting the official Australian "Iron Artist" tournament and strengthening its popular manga drawing classes.
The event was successfully held at Monash University's Caulfield Campus, in Melbourne, Australia, on 29 July 2006.
It was intended to be a convention
dedicated to manga doujinshi, but quickly ballooned into all self-published graphic narrative styles, including Western comics, "fine" Pop art illustration & cartoon Abstracts, as well as locally made animations.
Attracting approximately 500 attendees and 75 exhibiting artists, it was considered a resounding success, as the entire event had been organised by OzTAKU and all the advertising material had been printed at home.
The event was held again in 2007, and was not quite as successful as the first. This was due to a number of factors, notably that every door the venue was open, thereby allowing nearly one third of the attendees to sneak in for free.
In 2008, The DoujiCon: Part 3 was being held over two days, on 26 and 27 July at the Victorian Trades Hall in Carlton.
Unfortunately, due to the timing of another two anime conventions, many cartoonists from outside of Victoria were unable to attend, and this greatly disrupted the attendance of interstate exhibitors.
It still managed to host approximately 40 artists.
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
style artists & cartoonists. Whilst spread out along the Australian East coast, it's centrally administered from Melbourne, Australia.
Community
OzTAKU is now primarily run as a community for the development of manga style artists and cartoonists, and the furthering of creating a manga reading culture in Australia.The community has an online forum, and is involved in various social networking sites such as FaceBook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
the general purpose of which is to provide a feedback mechanism for artists currently engaged in projects involving manga style illustration.
It also has a real world presence that regularly engages in both social activities and creative workshops.
The ultimate aim of OzTAKU is to become another resource and Australian manga community, with publishing and merchandise merely as monetization methods that keep the community afloat.
Publishing
OzTAKU are responsible for OzTAKU magazine, with stories in the first series (#1-#3) including E-Pioneer, Legend and Replica and, in the current series, (#1.0 to current), Always Play, Rock Salt by Mark Withington, Rivers of Oblivion, Shadow Play, Magi by David Li, Tomorrow Yesterday, Days of Asha by David Kerr, Moth & Tanuki by Ian C. ThomasIan C. Thomas
Ian C. Thomas , aka Ian T., is a long-term Australian comics artist and cartoonist. He created Australia's first minicomic , produced Maelstrom and contributed to the early Australian anthology Reverie, as well as a comic strip in Melbourne newspaper City Extra.Ian T's recent work has appeared...
, Hakori, Souls Forgotten by Madonna Spelta and OzTAKU No Brain by Avi Bernshaw and Kenneth Chan.
The magazine itself fell by the wayside in 2007 due to the financial burdens it placed on OzTAKU as a whole.
In place of the anthology magazine, as of 2008, the group is now focusing on publishing independent Australian manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
, such as The List and Rocksalt, hosting the official Australian "Iron Artist" tournament and strengthening its popular manga drawing classes.
DoujiCon
In 2006, as a response to artists complaining about poor sales when forced to compete with known stores and brands, OzTAKU held the first DoujiCon (an abbreviation for Doujinshi Conference).The event was successfully held at Monash University's Caulfield Campus, in Melbourne, Australia, on 29 July 2006.
It was intended to be a convention
Fan convention
A fan convention, or con , is an event in which fans of a particular film, television series, comic book, actor, or an entire genre of entertainment such as science fiction or anime and manga, gather to participate and hold programs and other events, and to meet experts, famous personalities, and...
dedicated to manga doujinshi, but quickly ballooned into all self-published graphic narrative styles, including Western comics, "fine" Pop art illustration & cartoon Abstracts, as well as locally made animations.
Attracting approximately 500 attendees and 75 exhibiting artists, it was considered a resounding success, as the entire event had been organised by OzTAKU and all the advertising material had been printed at home.
The event was held again in 2007, and was not quite as successful as the first. This was due to a number of factors, notably that every door the venue was open, thereby allowing nearly one third of the attendees to sneak in for free.
In 2008, The DoujiCon: Part 3 was being held over two days, on 26 and 27 July at the Victorian Trades Hall in Carlton.
Unfortunately, due to the timing of another two anime conventions, many cartoonists from outside of Victoria were unable to attend, and this greatly disrupted the attendance of interstate exhibitors.
It still managed to host approximately 40 artists.